Recommend DS games!

[Gabriel]

OK, let's try this. Maybe this will be more positive than normal.

 

DS fans, here's your opportunity, recommend some games! But there are a few rules before you do.

 

1) The game should not use the touchscreen as a primary control interface. The game should ideally be controllable through the D-Pad and the buttons alone. Barring that, the touchscreen should be used in the most minimal and/or optional way possible.

 

2) The game should not be "kiddie." This is a bit harder to describe. Animeish looking graphics alone are not enough to be "kiddie", it's really an overall presentation of the game. If the game talks down to the player or generally treats the player like a moron, assume it's a kiddie game. If the game is based on something which is identifiable as a kid's only property (something like ZatchBell), then it's kiddie. If it's something you don't care for, but your 8 year old would love, it's kiddie. As a guide, consider Pokemon to be kiddie, but Final Fantasy III not so much.

 

(I've actually discovered Pokemon is a great game, but every time an NPC talks, I want to hurl the DS against a wall.)

 

3) Don't suggest Castlevania over and over. We all know Castlevania exists and therefore rocks. Let's hear some other recommendations besides Castlevania.

 

4) Don't suggest the generic Brain Games genre. Generally speaking, if it could be played on a board or on a piece of paper, then it's not applicable. I'm not talking about Final Fantasy Tactics or something like that, but Chess or Poker is right out. (but, if you know of a DS cart with Chess, Reversi, and Blackjack on it, feel free to mention it in passing)

 

5) When the game is also on the PSP, be prepared to explain why it's better on the DS than on the PSP. Despite rule number 1, touchscreen control is a possible valid reason, just defend the point.

 

6) I'd personally prefer posts of the format "This game is good and here's why" rather than simple lists. But it's all good.

 

7) It has to be a game you'd play in a situation other than "on the go." You'd want to play it even if you were sitting right next to your TV and PS3, XBox 360, and Wii setup.

 

Those are the ground rules. Let's keep the fight clean, and try to avoid punches below the belt. No hair pulling, and put the metal pipes back where you found them.

[liveinabin]

You bought the wrong system. You know that, don't you?

 

I mean, you want us to recommend you games for the DS, all of which MUST lack the qualities that would justify a games release specifically on the DS.

 

I know a couple of games for the Wii where you can sit very still and just press the buttons.

[Gregory DG]

Well, sorry. But one of my highest recommended game has an element of anime in the cut scenes, even though there are none in the game itself. It's Advance Wars DS. I play that game constantly. It's like a very broad game of chess...

 

Also Mario Kart DS. It's unbelievely awesome. And online.

 

Tetris DS. It's Tetris. Online.

 

New Super Mario Bros. How can you like video games and not like SMB?

[Gabriel]

I mean, you want us to recommend you games for the DS, all of which MUST lack the qualities that would justify a games release specifically on the DS.

 

Time and time again on these boards, I've seen DS Proponents state that games with the criteria above exist for the DS. "The DS has tons of non-kiddie games." or "The DS has plenty of games which use normal controls" or "There are tons of these games available ONLY on the DS." I just want to know what these games are, because I'm clearly not seeing them (and most of the time all anyone brings up is Castlevania). Take that as me being genuinely curious or me saying "put up or shut up." Either interpretation would have an element of truth to it.

 

I don't know if you had issue with it, but the rule which I feel is most controversial is #7. But, from my point of view, that's just a way of saying, "It's a genuinely good game and not just something to do when you're bored in a waiting room somewhere."

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Wow, that's a lot of restrictions and guidelines for someone to sift through and try to give you recommendations.

[liveinabin]

Well your #7 depends on the individual, surely. My wife and I will happily give our full attention to stuff like Animal Crossing, Kawashima's Brain Training, Cooking Mama etc. Some people will regard some or all of those as just 10 minute distractions.

It seems to me that your tastes in games are fairly traditional, set in the game design ethos of the late 80s-mid 90s. Those kind of games are still made, and good, but there's a whole lot of new stuff, that many existing gamers would even have trouble defining as a 'game'. The DS is really one of the main platforms for those.

 

I could recommend you some awesome games, but they use the stylus. Things like Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright and Metroid Prime Hunters. All not limited by the D-Pad.

[masschamber]

brothers in arms ds is fantastic, I know it's touch screen heavy but seriously the game is basically gears of war pocket, this more has to do with hopefully getting people to consider bia then you recommandation list, it has a cover system that works great bascially an automatic version of gears of war, the action is intense the game will throw a dozen german soldiers, tanks, armored cars and planes at you all at the same time, the controls fantastic metroids basically, but with less clutter in the interface, and no double tapping or r button usage,

the sound is great, sood chatter and strong sound effects, no in game music but that seems par for the course for ww2 games

and visually it is the most detailed game on the ds, dust flies when bullets hit the ground, detailed buildings and landscapes, excellent character models, loads of action on screen, basically it is the ds' visual showpiece

 

as far as non and light touch screen games

viewtiful joe is as good as the console games if not better due to pacing and combat tweeks, plus the movie , tv show and game parody theme is great

touch screen is only used for powers

age of empires age of kings is a fantastic turned based strategy game,

touch screen is optional

Transformers, it may be licensed but seriously this is a very strong action game, the mission and character differences (basically after training they are 2 completely different sets of missions) justifies the existence of both versions, the gameplay is cool due to the level of interactivity, scanning every car is fun to see the difference and find the G1 referencing cars (a van that looks like skids, and cars that look like dead end and wild rider, etc), plus full voice over for the story mode including Frank Welker and Peter Cullen, touch screen is used to transform and bring up the mission status screen

[Lord Helmet]

I think that not including games that use the touch screen is a little unfair since the system is designed for this functionality to be included in gameplay. It would be like asking me to give you a few PSP games that were good, but not ones that required the analog stick, just those that used the dpad and buttons

[+atari2600land]

Mario Kart DS fits all of those requirements. And it's not Castlevania. I could play Mario Kart DS all day. It never gets boring when playing solo, especially if you're playing it in 150cc Hard mode in Vs. (what I personally prefer.) It took me a little bit, but I unlocked all the bonus tracks and characters. I've had this since around the day it came out and still love it. The "retro" tracks are not what I would've picked, but there are some good ones (Banshee Boardwalk, Choco Mountain, Mushroom Bridge, Frappee Snowland are my favorites.) I haven't been online with it yet because I have no wi-fi access.

Edited August 26, 2007 by atari2600land

[Bivotar]

snip

Edited August 26, 2007 by Bivotar

[DaBargainHunta]

The question is a bit wonky, but geez, someone should at least answer the poor man...

 

Star Wars Episode III: True, it's basically a GBA port, but it's a lot of fun and requires minimal (if any) touchscreen controls.

 

Konami Classics Series: Several great games, no touchscreen controls (except for the flip switches).

 

Time Ace: Great (unofficial) update of Time Pilot. Other than a mini-game, I don't recall any touchscreen control here.

 

Top Gun: Another fun flight game. Ignore the bad reviews.

 

Asphalt Urban GT 2: Insanely fun arcade racing.

 

Metroid Prime Pinball: No description needed. I think you can touch the screen to bump the table, but that's it.

 

Mega Man ZX: One of the best action games on the system.

 

Scurge Hive: Another GBA port, but it's excellent.

 

Sonic Rush: Best Sonic in years. If there's any touchscreen stuff, it's very minimal.

 

Trioncube: It seems that no one "gets" this game, which is a shame. Imagine Tetris, but instead of having to immediately eliminate blocks, you chain them together for one giant elimination. So satisfying! It's almost the anti-puzzler in a way because it's so laid back and relaxing. I love it. See for yourself with a flash demo HERE.

 

And, of course, there's the entire GBA library. Seriously though, I highly recommend the GBA version of TMNT. It blows away the DS and console incarnations.

 

P.S. I think Clubhouse Games has both chess and blackjack (not sure about reversi) - double-check to make sure though. It is pretty touchscreen intensive, however.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited August 26, 2007 by DaBargainHunta

[+atari2600land]

Trioncube: It seems that no one "gets" this game, which is a shame. Imagine Tetris, but instead of having to immediately eliminate blocks, you chain them together for one giant elimination. So satisfying! It's almost the anti-puzzler in a way because it's so laid back and relaxing. I love it. See for yourself with a flash demo HERE.

 

And, of course, there's the entire GBA library. Seriously though, I highly recommend the GBA version of TMNT. It blows away the DS and console incarnations.

I love Trioncube and TMNT too, and recommend them also.

[Video]

I'm sorry, but two of my favorite games for the DS (which isn't many) will still go into what you described as not wanting.

 

Advance wars, is very kiddy in look, and story, talks down to the player, etc. But damn, it's still a fun game, and you actually get around the story if you make custome maps (which single handedly makes this one of the best games on the DS, just to bad it's a mild update to the GBA games)

 

Brain Age (both) Touch screen everywhere. But eh...hey, it's a lot cooler than the alternative (if there is one) on other handhelds, which would be a simple "select option from list" which is to easy since they useually throw rediculous crap in. But brainage is really cool...of course, you DO have to like the puzzle rack your brain learning types. Of course, I mostly played it for Sudoku, which with the right the letter in interface is superior to all the other handhelds out there (except maybe the standalones out there)

 

That being said...I think I have a few games with minimal touch screen/kiddiness, that aren't castlevania.

 

Devilish. Uh..I think you can c ontroll the paddle with the screen (optional) but it plays perfectly fine with the traditional controllers. It's basically a pong type of game. It's actually quiet fun, but I got stuck on it, and lost interest in it quiet a while ago.

 

Episode III (someone already mentioned this) It's starwars. Sidescrolling fighter. A decent over all title. Though, again, as stated above. It's just a GBA game translated to DS...No touch screen at all, I don't think..

 

Underground pool. This is about as unkiddie as you can get, without throwing int car jacking, killing, and cussing. It's a pool game. I personally liked Archer Mclean for GBA better, but eh...it's a good enough game. It can use the touch screen to do everything the controller does, but does not require it in any way.

 

Shogun Empire. It's kind of uh...a Turn bassed ish...real time strategy? You'd really havve to play it to understand, the closest I could say it is, is basically Conquest of the world (for commodore 64) with real time battles thrown in...Oh wait, that uses the touch screen. At least it does it in a streightforward competant way.

 

Sudoku Mania...basically, the reason I bought brain age, this is one of those 'other handheld versions' I mentioned earlier. Can use key or screen to controll, it's simple, streightforward, but damnit...drawing the numbers in by hand on brainage was way cooler (pluss brainage would tell you if you Efed something up)

 

There are more, I"m sure. Over all, I consider myself a pretty heavy DS hater actually... no kidding, I had a topic like this a year or two ago basically saying the same thing, looks like peopoe have matured a little since then though, as all I got was dissed for the same thing.

 

Of course...over all, I still say the second screen is the most useless feature of the DS (comeone...really, how is two 300x200 screens any better than one 400x300 screen...anybody?)

[Lord Helmet]

I'm sure most people would consider Mario games to be kiddie...but just about everyone I know loved the original Super Mario Brothers, and New SMB for the DS is great IMHO.

 

Advance Wars DS is really good too...though it uses the touch screen. The GBA AW games used a more traditional control scheme and were not as intuitive. You can still play the game with the dpad if you are allergic to the stylus or touch screen.

 

Elite Beat Agents is tons of fun...but its a touch screen game. It really wouldn't work without it, so I'm including it anyway.

 

More good ones...other than the Castlevania games (which we all know kick ass):

 

Metroid Prime Hunters

Metrod Prime Pinball

Age of Empires, Age of Kings (works best with the stylus though)

Sonic Rush (sonic might be considered kiddie)

Mario Kart

[Atariboy]

My favorites are...

 

Super Mario 64 DS

Mario Kart DS

New Super Mario Brothers

Yoshi's Island 2

Sim City DS

 

And you can't go wrong with the Castlevania games if the GBA games were any indication or reviews of them (I've yet to play the DS games). Also, if Intellivision Lives DS ever sees the light of day, I'm sure that will be one I'd recommend highly.

[Gregory DG]

Advance Wars DS is really good too...though it uses the touch screen.

I never use the touch screen when I play. I can press the buttons much faster than use the stylus.

 

Also, I thought the world creation would be easier with the stylus too, but I find it harder. Sometimes the drawing just takes off on it's own. I prefer the more precise control of the joypad.

[Video]

Advance Wars DS is really good too...though it uses the touch screen.

I never use the touch screen when I play. I can press the buttons much faster than use the stylus.

 

Also, I thought the world creation would be easier with the stylus too, but I find it harder. Sometimes the drawing just takes off on it's own. I prefer the more precise control of the joypad.

 

I agree with this totally. Advance wars is one of only two games that I will play with the touch screen, and I still prefer the traditional controller.

 

It might not be "cool" to use the traditional controller instead of the touch screen...but honestly, when something works, it works. And the original controll for AW works (in some ways, better than the touch screen controll does)

[Asaki]

I'm going to ignore the first stipulation, because I don't know the definition of "kiddie games". When I was a kid, I basically played the same games I play today..."kiddie games" to me, were those stupid Sesame Street 1-2-3 games, I never could stand those, even as a child. I don't know any games like that for DS, so if "kiddie games" means "not rated M", then you'll have to excuse my list.

 

First off, ClubHouse Games has Chess, Reversi (Othello), and Blackjack, but requires the touch screen. Tons of other classic board/card games, too. Billiards on it sucks, though, but the rest is class.

 

Mario 64: I never really got to play the original that much, but I tried it out a little after beating the DS version, and the DS version is much better. Better graphics, lots of extra stuff, tweaked levels, extra characters, and fun mini-games. Most of the minigames require the touch screen, but they're worth playing if you need time wasters. The main game itself can use the touch screen if you want, but I find it much easier to just use the d-pad.

 

Mario Kart: As everyone else said, if you like Mario Kart at all, this one's prettymuch a no-brainer, it's my favorite Mario Kart so far. The only thing the touch screen does is change between two different map modes, which can also be done with a button.

 

Metroid Prime Hunters: Pretty lame for a Metroid game, but it's a pretty sweet FPS. You can opt to use the buttons instead of the touch screen, but I REALLY wouldn't advise it. But hey, whatever floats your boat, man. If your touch screen is broken or something, I guess there's worse ways you could try to play an FPS.

 

Animal Crossing: Might possibly come close to kiddie, Idunno. It's a little bit better than the GameCube version, if you liked it, but I kinda miss having the NES games on it. Of course, a flash cart can fix that problem You can use the touch pad if you want, but like Mario 64, I find it easier to just use the pad.

 

Picross DS: Another sequel, and another no-brainer if you like the series. IMO, control notes are the same as Animal Crossing and Mario 64 (especially when the grids start getting bigger). Though it's kinda fun to be playing Picross with the touch screen, the novelty wears off after a while and it just gets overly complicated.

 

Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents, and Ouendan 2: I know you said no touch screen games, but if you ever have a change of heart and open your mind, these are really great games. I don't even like music games, but for some reason, I just find these ones addicting. There's just something about the gameplay, the storylines, the comic (or manga) style, and the humor that all comes together perfectly. The English EBA has a few too many emo/punk pop songs, but they're all the boring easy throwaway songs anyway, and there's a few really great harder songs (and one or two stinker hard songs). IMO, the good outweighs the bad, though I imagine it's probably hard to force yourself past the crap songs at the beginning if you're unfamiliar with the game. The Ouendan games might have crap music too, but they're all in Japanese, so they could be singing about butterflies and sunshine for all I know =) Being in Japanese slightly confuses the stories a bit, but you can still get the general gist of what's going on, from the pictures alone.

 

New Super Mario Bros.: Yet another sequel and no-brainer. I'm actually surprised by this game...it really does have a huge old-school feel to it...has a little bit of every Super Mario Bros. game mixed in with it, even a dash of the original arcade game.

 

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis: I guess I'm a fan of sequels or something. This one's way different from the original, it's a bit more like Lemmings than anything. Uses the touch screen, but if you're into this type of game, I don't see why you should let yourself be restricted by it. I'm hoping that you only laid that stipulation down to avoid a bunch of recommendations of silly novelty games like that Kirby game where you just draw circles and crap.

 

Some other ones that I haven't played too much, but seem cool enough:

 

Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits: It's Mr. Driller. For DS. Uses the d-pad.

 

Dig Dug: Digging Strike: Pretty cool, it mixes Dig Dug 1 and 2 together. D-pad.

 

Bust-a-Move: Can use the d-pad, but it's easier to use the touch screen. The music is kind of annoying, but it's fun to play BaM with touch. Also, unlike that Bubble Bobble DS game, Bub and Bob don't look like hideous mutant freaks >_<

 

Sonic Rush: No touch screen support, as far as I can tell. Out of all the Sonic games I've ever played, it seems like this one has the most "hold right until you win" to it that I've ever seen. I haven't gotten too far into it, though, but it's definitely worth buying.

 

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence: I never really got into the Resident Evil games that much...for ripping off Alone in the Dark's engine, the games have far too much killing (which the engine isn't suited to) and hardly any puzzles at all (which is really what the engine was designed for). But hey, if you're into that sort of thing, it seems like a cool game. Maybe I'll get into it later, but it's really hard...I just got frustrated and stopped playing. As far as I know, it's an enhanced port of the original...even has oldskool live action cutscenes. The coop mode sounds pretty cool, I'll have to try it out sometime. Uses the touch screen for a few seconds as little bonus things, but the bulk of the game uses the d-pad.

 

Deep Labyrinth: Seems kinda cool...it's like they took Ultima Underworld and drenched it in anime until it suffocated and died. The anime is a bit much for my tastes, but the oldschool dungeon crawl gameplay draws me to it. I think you have to use the touch screen to attack, but it's kinda cool...you swipe the direction you want to swing your sword, stuff like that...even copies the "wave your hands to cast spells" thing from Arx Fatalis (the spiritual sequel to Underworld).

 

Touch the Dead: Standard on-rails shooter, but uses the touch screen instead of a light gun. The gameplay's pretty good, but the graphics aren't that great.

 

Planet Puzzle League: If you like Tetris Attack for SNES, this is the same thing. Unfortunately, the techno music and graphics made me feel like I was going to have a seizure, so I stopped playing. Didn't care for Tetris Attack that much anyway.

 

Impossible Mission: Uses the touch screen for the menus, has three different modes of play...classic, remixed, and a mix of the two. I'm no expert in the original, but it seems like a pretty solid port, though I would've preferred if they let you use the d-pad for the menus.

 

Contact: I've heard great things about this game...played it for a little while, I'll probably pick it up later if I find it cheap somewhere. Very...quirky. Yes, it's definitely different. I think it uses the touch screen though, I can't remember.

 

Hotel Dusk: Room 215: Seems like a pretty cool game, though there's way too much pointless dialogue for my tastes. Might try to play it again later, since it's rather refreshing to have an actual adventure game in this huge adventure drought we've been having for far too long. It probably picks up after the intro sequence, but I lost patience.

 

Zoo Keeper: Only played it a tiny bit, but seems cool if you're into those Bejewelled games. Don't remember if it uses the touch screen or not, but the multiplayer mode is fun.

 

Uh...and Castlevania rocks =) Can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

Edit: I'm assuming you don't have a flash cart, so I didn't list any homebrew, and Ouendan is the only import I listed, just because it's that dang good.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Asaki

[Gabriel]

I saw Shogun Empire a few days ago for $10 and remembered the recommendation here. I picked it up, but I haven't really tried it yet.

[mimo]

R4DS

[Asaki]

Okay, I've been playing Resident Evil lately, and I'm starting to get into it a bit more. The combat slows down a bit after you clear the rooms, and there's a few more puzzles as you go along. Okay, it wasn't really the combat in general that bothered me...just those stupid birds that annoy the piss out of me >_<

[rockman_x_2002]

Easier for me to go through my DS titles and pick them out one by one. I'll try to match the criteria as closely as possible. All of the DS games I own I've been known to play some around the house in spite of having modern consoles, so I will disregard that rule for my case. Here we go:

 

Asphalt: Urban GT: Racing game in the spirit of Project Gotham Racing. Lots of races, real-world cars, upgrades to purchase, and decent competition even though AI is as dumb as a brick and will not hesitate to knock you out of the way if you're driving "the line" and they want to be where you are. This game, however, matches the criteria specified.

 

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: Banned from the list, but... need I say more?

 

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin: See above.

 

Dig Dug: Digging Strike: This one possibly violates the "kiddie" rule, although the characters don't talk down to the player so much as they talk down to one another in the storyline. Thankfully you have the option of totally bypassing the storyline and enjoying the pure retro-gaming goodness this game has to offer.

 

Final Fantasy III: Need I say more?

 

Lunar: Dragon Song: This one gets a bad rap as being one of the "off" Lunar games. However, if you can wrap your head around its complex system and how the game works it's not a bad RPG. It can use the touch screen for everything, but it controls just as well with traditional controls. The only difference is you have to run by making a noise into the microphone of some kind. Blowing gently into it works well enough, so you don't make much noise (although you look strange blowing at the DS while playing the game).

 

Metroid Prime Pinball: Only touch control in the game is bumping the table. Beyond that it's pure unadulterated pinball action with an adventure twist.

 

Nanostray: Traditional vertically-scrolling shooter. The touch screen functions merely as "extra buttons" for you to select various weapons and perform a "scan" on a boss enemy at the end of a level. Tough-as-nails game that's tough to get a score high enough to please the game enough to give you a rating anywhere better than a C (at least, that's been my experience).

 

New Super Mario Bros.: Need I say more?

 

Super Mario 64 DS: See above.

 

So there's the games that I have. The majority of them (10 out of 17) that match (or closely match) the criteria you have given. The DS has some spectacular touch-screen games though (Metroid Prime Hunters, Meteos, etc.) which shouldn't be missed though.

[Jess Ragan]

"I want Nintendo DS games! But I don't want them to be anything like Nintendo DS games!"

 

Hey, while you're making screwball requests, maybe you can ask for some Xbox 360 games that aren't first-person shooters, or game.com cartridges that don't suck!

[Gabriel]

Hey, while you're making screwball requests, maybe you can ask for some Xbox 360 games that aren't first-person shooters,

 

Anything on XBox Live Arcade other than Doom and Marathon. Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Project Silpheed, DOA4, Enchanted Arms, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II, etc.

[Lord Helmet]

Hey, while you're making screwball requests, maybe you can ask for some Xbox 360 games that aren't first-person shooters

 

I might agree with this if we were talking about the original XBox. The 360 has a pretty nice variety of games though.